DECEMBER 13, 2011

Around the Water Cooler: Rule 3

The Kahr being fired here is the PM9, a micro-size 9mm with polymer frame. It's not the NYPD Kahr, an all-steel pistol only slightly bigger. In spite of NYPD's ruling, a better feeling pistol than the Kahr is hard to imagine.
The blurb from the New York Daily News read, "NYPD brass to cops: Stop using Kahr K-9 semi-automatic pistol as an off-duty gun; Weapon's light trigger blamed for accidental shootings." This trigger that's "so light it's been blamed for a series of accidental discharges" has a nominal trigger pull of 7 ½ pounds. NYPD brass wanted a trigger pull of 13 pounds. A thirteen pound trigger on a small pistol weighing 23 ounces . . . no wonder they're not concerned about hit percentages of 16%! I think they'd worry if the round hit the proverbial busload of nuns. That 13 pound trigger is practically unmanageable. Since Kahr has trouble making a gun with a substandard trigger pull, NYPD had to come up with an answer. Their solution is to ban officers from carrying any of the 5,000 Kahr pistols they've purchased for the purpose of carrying off-duty. From my knowledge of the Kahr line, there's a few things I know.
1. They don't go off when dropped. 2. They only fire when the trigger is pulled. 3. Keeping one's finger off the trigger until the sights come onto the threat and you form the intention to fire will prevent unintended discharges.
Seem easy? A few years back, I got an annual report from NYPD. From their projected losses, they expect a total number of officers around 35,000. We had less than 150 per year, reserves included. I can't imagine the cluster that scheduling firearms training could be with 35,000 troops. To our trainers for hire out there, these are in-service troops a large percentage of whom don't want to be there and couldn't care less. NYPD had thousands of officers who never made it to "required annual range qualification and training." This makes it tough to get simple concepts across. I imagine my class on gun safety would be met with a veteran who'd say, "Finger off the trigger? If I've pulled the gun out, I'm not wasting time trying to find the trigger when something happens. Gun out of holster, finger on trigger - just like DeNiro!" Well, it's your manslaughter trial, not mine. Keep in touch.